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Her Firefighter Under the Mistletoe
Scarlet Wilson


Being reunited with her childhood sweetheart is quite a surprise for Paediatric Consultant Jessica Rae. Especially as the boy she once knew is now a sinfully sexy, lifesaving firefighter! Even now, single dad Callum Kennedy still makes her heart go boom – something this grieving doctor never again thought possible…For Callum and his gorgeous son, Drew, Jessica could be just what his heartbroken little family needs. And he’ll do anything to convince her that he’s just what she needs too… starting with a heart-stopping Christmas kiss!













Praise for Scarlet Wilson: (#ulink_75d61ee8-84d2-5f86-a919-e93b2d44a835)


‘WEST WING TO MATERNITY WING is a tender, poignant and highly affecting romance that is sure to bring a tear to your eye. With her gift for creating wonderful characters, her ability to handle delicately and compassionately sensitive issues and her talent for writing believable, emotional and spellbinding romance, the talented Scarlet Wilson continues to prove to be a force to be reckoned with in the world of contemporary romantic fiction!’

—www.cataromance.com on WEST WING TO MATERNITY WING




Praise for

Susan Carlisle:


‘A heart-wrenching story of love and loyalty.’ —Goodreads on HEART SURGEON, HERO…HUSBAND?


SCARLET WILSON wrote her first story aged eight and has never stopped. Her family have fond memories of Shirley and the Magic Purse, with its army of mice, all with names beginning with the letter ‘M’. An avid reader, Scarlet started with every Enid Blyton book, moved on to the Chalet School series and many years later found Mills & Boon


.

She trained and worked as a nurse and health visitor, and currently works in public health. For her, finding medical romances was a match made in heaven. She is delighted to find herself among the authors she has read for many years.

Scarlet lives on the West Coast of Scotland with her fiancé and their two sons.



SUSAN CARLISLE’S love affair with books began when she made a bad grade in math in the sixth grade. Not allowed to watch TV until she’d brought the grade up, she filled her time with books and became a voracious romance reader. She has ‘keepers’ on the shelf to prove it. Because she loved the genre so much she decided to try her hand at creating her own romantic worlds. She still loves a good happily-ever-after story.

When not writing Susan doubles as a high school substitute teacher, which she has been doing for sixteen years. Susan lives in Georgia with her husband of twenty-eight years and has four grown children. She loves castles, travelling, cross-stitching, hats, James Bond and hearing from her readers.




Her Firefighter

Under the

Mistletoe

Scarlet Wilson







www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


Dear Reader

This year has been a cause for celebration.

I celebrated a big birthday (shh!) in New York with my family, and two of my books were nominated for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s RoNA Rose Award. I was delighted and honoured to have two Mills & Boon


Medical Romances


on the shortlist, and to see the line that I love recognised.

This has also been the year I wrote my first non-medical hero. I’d like you all to meet Callum Kennedy, a firefighter in the rope rescue unit, who appeared fully formed in my mind—and funnily enough in uniform! I also got to set my story in my nearest city—Glasgow.

Glasgow is gorgeous at Christmas time, with beautiful lights along Buchanan Street and on into George Square, with its ice rink and Christmas tree. Perfect for a Christmas story!

In this story Callum meets Jess—his childhood sweetheart—and he’s shocked by the changes in her. Life has dealt Jess a cruel blow, and she’s having a hard time recovering—but maybe Callum and his gorgeous son Drew can bring her all the Christmas cheer that she needs!

Please feel free to contact me at my website www.scarlet-wilson.com. I love to hear from readers!

Merry Christmas!

Scarlet




DEDICATION (#ulink_caf8840d-9241-5b3c-b4e0-f590d386e116)


This book is dedicated to my good friends Jane Bell,

Kirsten Gallacher and Lorna McCririe,

who all enjoy getting into the spirit of Christmas!




Table of Contents


Cover (#u37b7e907-3668-5739-a5a8-6deb4536b04f)

Praise for Scarlet Wilson (#u22eb25ef-b9e8-5719-bd60-248c6b7e250b)

About the Authors (#uc206b802-f693-53ff-a79a-085a6850cd1c)

Title Page (#ue0ded851-3ac5-5778-9be0-435b67df3c8e)

Dedication (#u77136580-1f9c-5f77-9cbb-3591e7799cf1)

Chapter One (#u1070ee1e-5d87-510e-893b-c80fc009052a)

Chapter Two (#uc66df2be-c5cb-595b-9e24-b8b9034ce1cf)

Chapter Three (#ube877104-15e3-56b7-9166-bbb41c7a9127)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)




CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_51c30fc2-bd3d-54f7-8d9f-e76da43f9bda)


Bzzz…bzzz…

The noise jerked Jess out of the delicious tranquil state that had been enveloping her.

Her eyes blinked at the bright light outside, the fuzziness of her brain trying to adjust and make sense of it all.

Her pager usually woke her in the dark of the night—just like it had three times last night. Having it wake her in the middle of the day was an entirely new experience.

A baby with RSV had kept her awake most of the night in Paediatric ITU, and when the ward had finally quietened down around an hour ago, she’d brought her coffee in here to do some paperwork.

Fat chance. She touched the coffee cup on her desk. Stone cold. Had she even managed a sip before she’d wiped out?

How long had she been asleep? She wriggled in her chair, rolling her shoulders back and trying to ease the knots out of her back.

Bzzz…Bzzz…

She glanced at the number. A and E. Another admission. Probably another respiratory problem.

It was Glasgow, at the start of November, but it felt like the middle of winter. The temperature had dropped dramatically in the last few days and paediatric emergency admissions had soared. Trips and falls on the slippery pavements had resulted in a whole host of strains, fractures and head injuries. Asthma and respiratory complaints were through the roof. Infections and nondescript viruses were causing mayhem with new babies and toddlers.

Just as well she didn’t have anyone to go home to. She hadn’t seen the inside of her house for days.

She picked up the phone and dialled A and E. ‘It’s Dr Rae. You were paging me.’

The voice was brusque, skipping over any pleasantries and getting straight to business. ‘Assemble a flying squad. Nursery minibus in the Clyde on the city outskirts. Unknown number of casualties. We’re waiting for more information from emergency services. You need to be ready to leave in five minutes.’

She was on her feet in seconds and throwing open the door, her tiredness, sore muscles and fatigue instantly forgotten. ‘I need a flying squad,’ she yelled, glancing down the corridor as the sister of the ward hurried towards her, ‘Where’s Jackie? I want her with me.’

Jackie appeared at her side in an instant. ‘What is it?’

‘Nursery minibus in the Clyde.’

The experienced nurse’s face paled. ‘In this weather? In these temperatures?’

‘Go!’ The ward sister waved her hand at them. ‘Leave everything else to me.’

Jess started jogging down the corridor, heading for the stairs. It took less than a minute to reach A and E and one of the staff thrust a green suit into her hands. She climbed into it immediately, noting the fluorescent ‘Doctor’ sign on the back. It was essential that all staff could be picked out easily in an emergency. One of the paramedics thrust a pair of gloves towards her. ‘Take these, you’ll need them out there.’

She glanced at her watch. It was only two-thirty in the afternoon. At least a few hours of daylight left. She prayed they wouldn’t need more than that.

‘Let’s go!’

The shout came from the front doors. Jackie appeared at her side again, similarly clad in a green jumpsuit with ‘Nurse’ emblazoned across the back. They picked up the pre-packed paediatric emergency kits and headed outside.

Jess climbed into one of the emergency vehicles and fastened her seat belt as the sirens sounded and they headed out onto the motorway. She turned to the man sitting next to her, ‘I’m Jess, paediatric consultant. Have you heard any more?’

He nodded. ‘Stan, emergency service co-ordinator. Lots of problems. Someone sideswiped the minibus and sent it down a thirty-foot slippery bank and straight into the Clyde.’

Jess tried to stop the sharp intake of breath. Her brain was into immediate overtime, imagining the types of injuries the children could have sustained.

‘How many?’

He shook his head. ‘Still waiting for confirmation. Three adults, at least ten kids.’

‘Age range?’

‘From two to five. We’re getting more information all the time. The other nursery minibus missed everything. They didn’t even know there had been an accident. The police are there now, collecting details of all the kids.’

Jess swallowed, trying to ignore the huge lump in her throat. The flying squad wasn’t called out too often. She was the consultant on call—it was her job to be here. But that didn’t mean her stomach wasn’t churning at the thought of the scene she was about to face.

Yes, she could appear calm. Yes, she could use her skills and clinical expertise. Yes, she would do everything that was expected of her and beyond.

But would she sleep tonight?

Probably not.

There was a crackle of the radio and some voices she couldn’t distinguish. The driver turned his head. ‘Five minutes. They’ve called out the rapid response and specialist rope rescue team. They should arrive just before us. Let’s hope Callum got out of bed on the right side today.’

‘Who is Callum?’

The words were out of her mouth automatically, before she even had a chance to think. ‘And what’s the specialist rope rescue team?’

None of this sounded good. All she could think about was the children involved in the crash. What did this mean for them?

Stan’s face was pale. ‘It means that the banking is too dangerous for our crews to work on, that, plus the added complication of being in water means we need the specialist crew.’

‘Will it delay me getting to the children?’

Stan averted his eyes, obviously not wanting to give her the answer. He hadn’t answered the other part of her question. He hadn’t mentioned Callum. And the driver’s comment had made her ears prick up. Let’s hope he got out of bed on the right side.

The last thing she needed right now was a prima donna firefighter getting in her way when she had kids to attend to. ‘Is Callum a bit on the crabbit side, then?’ she asked as they pulled over to the side of the road. A bad-tempered man she could deal with. As long as he didn’t interfere with her job.

‘Only on a good day,’ muttered Stan as he jumped from the rescue vehicle.

Jessica opened the door carefully, to avoid the passing traffic on the busy road. The police had cordoned part of it off as best they could. But the constant flow of traffic was unnerving.

The cold air hit her straight away. Biting cold, sneaking under the folds of her jumpsuit, made her wish she was wearing a hat, scarf and fleece and not just the thin gloves she’d been handed.

She flinched at the sight of the crash barrier, twisted beyond all recognition and lying like a useless piece of junk at the side of the road.

There were raised voices to her left. She turned just in time to see a broad-shouldered man snap on his harness and disappear down the side of the banking, with the vain words ‘Risk assessment’ being shouted after him by his colleagues.

A sense of unease came over her body. A vague awareness trickling through her. Callum—that’s what they’d said. It couldn’t possibly be Callum Kennedy, could it? She hadn’t seen him since school and had no idea where he’d ended up. But there was something vaguely familiar about the body that had just disappeared over the edge.

Her footsteps shortened as she reached the edge of the steep bank. Someone touched her shoulder, looking at the sign on her back. ‘Oh, good, the doctor. Let’s get you harnessed up.’

She lifted her legs as she was clipped and harnessed and talked through the motions of the descent. Her bag was sent down ahead. A burly firefighter appeared next to her. ‘You’ll go down with me. Have you done this before?’

She peered over the edge again. Thirty feet of steep descent. How many times had the minibus rolled on the way down?

She could see it now, lying on its side in the Clyde, the icy cold water surrounding it. There was a flurry of firefighters around it. Some on top, trying to get through the windows, some on the banking, surrounded by other pieces of equipment.

‘Get me down there.’ Her eyes met the firefighter’s and the whispered words grew more determined. ‘Get me down to those children.’

He nodded and spoke into the radio clipped to his shoulder. ‘The doc and I are on our way.’

She took a deep breath and turned with her back towards the water, edging down the side of the bank in time with the firefighter. It was slippery work. A thin layer of frost had formed over the mud at the side of the bank, her simple shoes giving her literally no grip. The firefighter’s firm hand in the small of her back kept her from slipping completely. Even through her gloves the biting cold was already making her fingers numb.

She looked over her shoulder. ‘How much further?’

‘Keep your eyes straight ahead, please.’

Her anxiety was building. She wanted to get down. She wanted to help those kids. But she needed to get down there in one piece.

‘Who is Callum? Is it Callum Kennedy?’

The firefighter’s eyes gave a spark of amusement. ‘Know him, do you?’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m not entirely sure. I think so. I went to school with a Callum Kennedy, but I didn’t get a good look at him before he went over the edge.’ She shrugged her shoulders, ‘I’m not even sure he would recognise me now.’

The firefighter gave her a little smile, ‘Oh, I’m sure he would.’

‘What does he do exactly?’

‘He’s the head of the rope rescue unit. He’ll be in charge down here.’ They were inching closer and closer to the bottom.

‘And is he any good?’ She bit her lip. It might seem a little cheeky, but Stan had already mentioned he could be crabbit. She needed to know that he wouldn’t get in her way. That he wouldn’t stop her doing her job with these kids.

‘Put it this way—if me or my kids were stuck anywhere that a rope rescue was needed?’ He lifted his eyes skyward. ‘I would be praying to the man upstairs that Callum would be on duty that night. He’s the safest pair of hands we’ve got—particularly near kids.’ He caught her around the waist. ‘That’s us. Let me just unhook you from this line—but we’ll leave your harness on. You’ll need it to get back up and they’ll hook you up to another one if you’re near the water.’

‘Where’s the doc?’ came the shout.

Jess swivelled around, looking for her bag. ‘I’m here. I’m coming.’

Several of the firefighters were forming a line, passing two little kids along to the edge of the bank. Jackie appeared at her side. ‘Let’s go.’

They reached the kids just as they were placed on warm blankets on the ground. Jess worked quickly, gently feeling over their little bodies for signs of injuries as she spoke to them in a quiet voice.

‘Need some help?’

She nodded at the firefighter next to her. ‘Heat them up. There are no obvious injuries. But they’re in shock.’ She turned back to the minibus. Now she was closer she could see every dent, every bash, every hole in the metalwork.

It made the chill seem even worse. ‘Are these the first two?’

The man next to her nodded. ‘Do we have a number yet? How many kids are injured?’

‘Twelve. That’s the figure we have for the moment. Just awaiting confirmation.’

She moved over to the side of the slippery river’s edge as an adult was passed along and dealt with by the paramedics. She could see the hive of activity going on within the bus, hear the whimpering cries of the children.

‘Can I get over there? Do you need me to get into the bus?’ Her anxiety was building. She couldn’t stand here and do nothing. It just wasn’t in her nature. She needed to be at the heart of the action. It was her job to prioritise, triage and treat the sickest kids. She needed to be next to those children.

Her voice must have carried in the cold air, because a head whipped up from the bus. The man was lying across the windows, reaching down to grasp a squirming child, and his eyes connected with hers.

‘Stay exactly where you are.’

Callum. Callum Kennedy. Absolutely no mistake.

She saw him flinch visibly as his brain made the connection of who was standing on the riverbank.

He’d recognised her? After all these years?

The cold hard air hit her lungs. She must have sucked in a bigger breath than normal. Her skin prickled.

How did she feel about seeing Callum Kennedy thirteen years on?

Unprepared.

Like a seventeen-year-old again, standing in a dark nightclub and willing herself not to cry as they broke up. It had been the right decision. The sensible decision. They had both been going to university, she in Glasgow and he—after a wait of a few years—in Aberdeen. Their relationship would never have worked out. It had been best for them both.

It just hadn’t felt that way.

She pushed her feet more firmly into the ground, trying to focus her attention. Callum’s gaze hadn’t moved. It was still fixed on her face.

She could feel the colour start to rise in her cheeks. It was unnerving. But why the flinch? Was she really such an unwelcome sight after all this time?

Or maybe she was imagining this—maybe he’d no idea who she was at all.

Callum couldn’t believe it. He was holding a child firmly by the waist, while a colleague released him from his seat belt.

But Callum’s eyes were fixed on the flyaway caramel-coloured hair on the riverbank. Running up and down the thin frame that was in no way hidden by the bright green jumpsuit.

A sight he hadn’t seen in thirteen years.

A lifetime ago.

His childhood sweetheart, here on the banks of the Clyde, at the scene of an accident.

He’d always wondered if he’d come across her sometime, some place.

As a firefighter he’d been in and out of most of the A and E departments in the city. But in all these years he’d never glimpsed her, never seen her name on any board.

He knew that Jessica had gone to university to do her medical training, but had no idea where she’d ended up, or which field she’d specialised in.

And now he knew. She was somewhere here in Glasgow, specialising in paediatrics. Why else would she be here?

Would she even remember him? It looked as though she had—even though he’d filled out considerably since the last time they’d met. She, on the other hand, looked as if she’d faded away to a wisp.

Although he could see her slight frame, the most visible changes were around her facial features and structure. And it wouldn’t have mattered how many clothes she was bundled up in, he would have noticed at twenty paces.

It struck him as strange. The young Jessica he remembered had had an attention-grabbing figure and a personality to match. Every memory he had of her was a happy one. And for a second he felt as if they could all come flooding back.

There was a tug at his arms, followed by a sensation of relief and a lightening of the weight in his arms. He pulled upwards automatically. The little guy’s seat belt had been released.

He pulled him up and held him to his chest, capturing the little body with his own, holding him close to let a little heat envelop the shivering form. The little boy wasn’t even crying any more. He was just too cold.

He held the boy for a few seconds longer. He looked around four, just a year younger than his own son Drew. He couldn’t help the automatic paternal shiver that stole down his spine at the thought of something like this happening to his son. It didn’t even bear thinking about.

His only relief right now was that he hadn’t signed a consent form for the school to go on any trips this week, meaning that his little Drew was safely tucked up inside the primary school building.

The temperature in the minibus was freezing, with water halfway up its side-on frame. They were going to have to move quicker to get these kids out in time.

‘Callum! Callum! Pass him over, please.’

Oh, she’d recognised him all right. The authoritative tone made no mistake about that.

‘Okay, little guy, we’re going to get you heated up now.’ He ruffled the little boy’s hair before he passed him over to the arms stretched out towards him. He didn’t have time to think about Jessica Rae now. Too much was at stake.

He thrust his head back inside the minibus. ‘How are we doing?’

John, one of his co-workers, lifted his head. ‘I’ll have two more for you in a second. But I need some more light in here.’

Another voice shouted from the darkness, ‘I think I’ve got one with a broken leg and another unconscious. Can we get a paramedic or a doctor in here?’

Callum lifted his head back up. The light was fading quickly, even though it was only afternoon. Winter nights closed in quickly—by four p.m. it would be pitch black. He didn’t think twice. ‘I need a paramedic or a doctor over here, please.’

He could see the quick confab at the side of the river. Jess was issuing instructions to the nurse with her and the paramedics and ambulance technicians at her side. Things were going smoothly out there. Two of the children and one of the adults had already been transported back up the slippery bank. The latest little guy was still being assessed.

Jess moved to the side of the bank. He could see the impatience on her face as she waited for her safety harness to be clipped to the harness point on the shore. She shook her head at the waders she was offered, grabbed at a hand that was offered and started to climb towards the minibus.

It was precarious. the Clyde was not a quiet-flowing river. It was fast and churning, the icy-cold water lapping furiously at the side of the minibus as it penetrated the interior.

The minibus was moving with the momentum of the river and Jess slipped as she climbed over the wing of the minibus, the weight from her pack making her unstable. She was just within Callum’s reach and he stretched out and grabbed the tips of her fingers with a fierce, claw-like grip.

‘Yeowww!’ Her other hand flailed upwards then closed over his, and he steadied her swaying body as she thudded down next to him.

The red colour in her cheeks was gone, replaced with the whiteness of cold. ‘Thanks,’ she breathed, the warm air forming a little steamy cloud next to them.

‘Fancy seeing you here,’ he murmured, giving her a little smile. It had been impossible to spot from the riverbank, but here, up close, he had a prime-time view of the thing he’d always loved most about Jess—her deep brown eyes.

The smile was returned. That little acknowledgement.

That in another time, another place…

The memories were starting to invade his senses. Jessica in his arms throwing back her head and laughing, exposing the pale skin of her neck—skin that he wanted to touch with his lips.

His brain kicked back into gear. This was work. And he never got distracted at work.

‘Have you done anything like this before?’

She pulled back a little. It was the tiniest movement, a flinch almost, as if she was taken aback by his change of tone.

She shook her head and her eyebrows rose. ‘An overturned minibus in a fast-flowing river with lots of paediatric casualties?’

The irony wasn’t lost on him. He might do this sort of thing day in, day out, but Jess was usually in the confines of a safe, warm, comfortable hospital.

She hunched up onto her knees and pointed at the harness. ‘I’ve never even had one of these on before, let alone abseiled down a hillside.’ She wiggled her hips and tried to move her tether. ‘These things aren’t too comfortable, are they?’

It struck him—almost blindsided him—how brave she was being. The Jessica Rae he’d known at school hadn’t even liked contact sports. He closed his eyes as an unguarded memory of other activities of a physical nature swam into his mind.

Focus. Focus now.

He knelt upwards and grabbed her around her waist, trying not to think about how it felt to be touching Jessica Rae again after all these years. Trying not to remember how her firm flesh used to feel beneath his fingers. What had happened?

‘I’m going to lower you down, Jess.’ He peered through the side window next to them, which had been removed. ‘Your feet will get a bit wet because there’s some water on the floor. Are you okay with that?’

She nodded. She didn’t look scared. She didn’t look panicked. But there was a tiny little flicker of something behind her eyes. She looked in control.

He shouted down into the minibus. ‘John, I’m going to lower the doc down. Can you take care of her?’

She started. ‘Take care of me?’ It was almost as if he’d just insulted her. ‘Don’t you mean take care of the kids?’

But Callum wasn’t paying attention. He was back in rescue mode. ‘There are two kids in the back who need your attention. One unconscious, the other with a broken leg. It’s too cramped in there to take your bag down. Shout up and tell me what you need.’

Their eyes met again as she shrugged off her pack. ‘Ready?’ She nodded and he lowered her down slowly into the waiting arms of the firefighter below, praying that things would go to plan.

‘Sheesh!’ Her feet hit the icy cold water and it sent the surge of cold right up through her body. No one could stand in this for long.

It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the gloom inside the minibus. The mottled daylight was still sending shadows through one side of the bus, but Callum’s body and those of the other firefighters lying across the windows was blocking out the little light that was left.

A flashlight was thrust into her hands. ‘Here you go, Doc.’ She turned it on immediately. The first sight was the way the water was lapping quickly around them. She felt the vaguest wave of panic. ‘Is the river rising?’

John nodded. ‘Not quickly enough for us to worry about.’ his eyes didn’t quite meet hers.

Work quickly.

She noticed his black trousers ballooning around his ankles and gave him a little nod. ‘Did you say no to the waders too?’

He smiled. ‘No room for waders in here, Doc. Space is limited.’

She nodded and she shuffled around him towards the kids. ‘Are any of the kids in water?’ Her feet were already numb. There was a real danger of hypothermia setting in for any kid exposed to these temperatures.

‘Four.’

‘Four?’ She could feel a flare of panic. She was one person. How could she attend to four kids?

Callum stuck his head in the gap. ‘Start with the two at the back, Jess. As soon as you’ve stabilised them and they’re safe to move, my men will get them out. The other two don’t appear injured.’ He pointed to the front of the bus. ‘My men are getting them out as quickly as possible.’ He looked towards the back of the bus. ‘The little girl is called Rosie.’

His voice was calm, authoritative. The kind of guy in an emergency who told you things would be okay and you believed him—just because of the way he said it.

She pushed her way back to a little girl with masses of curly hair, still strapped into her seat. Her leg was at a peculiar angle, and it hadn’t taken a doctor to make an accurate diagnosis of a fracture. The little boy behind her, strapped into the window seat, was unconscious, but she couldn’t possibly get to him until she’d moved this little girl. She took off her gloves and put her hand round the girl, feeling for a pulse at his neck and checking to see he was still breathing. Yes, his pulse was slowing and his chest was rising and falling. But in these cold temperatures hypothermia was a real risk. She had to work as quickly as possible.

The water was lapping around their little legs and would be dropping their temperatures dramatically.

She shouted up to Callum, ‘I need you to pass me down the kit with analgesia—I need to give Rosie some morphine. It’s in a red box, in the front pouch of the bag.’ She waited a few seconds until the box appeared then shouted again, ‘And an inflatable splint.’

She spoke gently to Rosie, stroking her hair and distracting her, calculating The dosage in her head. It was too difficult to untangle the little girl from her clothes and find an available patch of skin. The last thing she needed to do was cause this little girl more pain. She took a deep breath and injected it through the thick tights on her leg, waiting a few minutes for it to take effect. ‘Pass me the splint,’ she whispered to John.

The positioning on the bus was difficult. ‘I’m sorry, honey,’ she whispered, as the little girl gave a little yelp as she straightened her leg and inflated the splint around about it to hold it in place.

‘Is she ready to be moved?’

‘Not quite. Can you get a collar? In fact, get me two. Once I’ve got that on her, you can move her.’

It was only a precaution. The little girl didn’t appear to have any other injuries apart from her leg. She seemed to be moving her other limbs without any problems, but Jess didn’t want to take a risk.

It only took a few seconds to manoeuvre the collar into place and fasten it securely. The cold water was moving quickly. It had only been around the children’s legs when she’d entered the vehicle—now it was reaching their waists. Time was absolutely of the essence here.

She was freezing. How on earth would these children be feeling? Kids were so much more susceptible to hypothermia because they lost heat more quickly than adults.

Another firefighter had appeared next to John, and they held a type of stretcher between them. Space was at a premium so Jess pushed herself back into the corner of the bus to allow them to load the little girl and pass her up through the window to Callum.

Time was ticking on. The sky was darkening and the level of the freezing water rising. She squeezed her way into the seat vacated by the little girl and started to do a proper assessment on the little unconscious boy, who was held in place by his seat belt.

‘Anyone know his name?’ she shouted to the crew.

‘It’s Marcus.’ The deep voice in her ear made her jump.

‘Where did you come from? I thought you were on the roof?’

‘The water’s too cold to have anyone in it for long. I told John to go ashore and dry off.’

‘Tell me about it. Try being a kid.’

There was an easy familiarity in having Callum at her side. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t seen him for years, it almost felt as if it had been yesterday.

Callum had changed, and so had she. The skinny youth had filled out in all the right places. His broad shoulders and muscled chest were visible through his kit. The shorter hairstyle suited him—even though it revealed the odd grey hair. They were only visible this close up.

‘What do you need?’

He was watching as she checked Marcus’s pulse, took his temperature, looked him over for any other injuries and shone a torch in his eyes to check his pupil reactions.

She shook her head. ‘This is going to have to be a scoop and run. He’s showing severe signs of hypothermia. His pulse is low and I can’t even get a reading with this thing.’ She shook the tympanic thermometer in the air. ‘So much for accurate readings.’

She placed the collar around his neck. ‘I don’t want to waste any time. I can’t find an obvious reason for him being unconscious. His clothes are soaking—right up to his chest. We can’t waste another second. Can you get me some kind of stretcher so we can get him out of here?’

Callum nodded. ‘Get me a basket stretcher,’ he shouted to one of his colleagues. He gestured his head to the side as the stretcher was passed down. She stared at the orange two-piece contraption, watching while he took a few seconds to slot the pins into place and assemble it. It had curved sides, handholds, adjustable patient restraints and a lifting bridle.

‘This is the only way we’ll get the casualties back up the steep embankment. Jump back up, Jess, we need as much room as we can to manipulate this into place.’ A pair of strong arms reached down through the window towards her and she grabbed them willingly. It pained her to leave the little boy’s side, but there wasn’t time for egos or arguments here.

The cold air hit her again as she came back out into the open. If she’d thought standing in the icy water had been bad, it was nothing compared to the wind-chill factor. Her teeth started chattering.

‘How…many more patients?’ she asked the firefighter next to her.

‘We’ve extricated all the adults. There’s another two kids stuck behind the front seat, but their injuries are minor and they’re not in contact with the water. We’ll get to them next.’

‘Has someone looked them over?’

He nodded. ‘Your nurse and one of the paramedics. They had another kid who was submerged. She’ll be in the ambulance ahead of you. We’ve just radioed in.’

The minibus gave another little lurch as the currents buffeted it. ‘This thing had better not roll,’ came the mumble from next to her.

Jess wobbled, trying to gain her balance. She hadn’t even considered the possibility of the bus rolling. That would be a nightmare. There was a tug around her waist, and she looked to the side of the riverbank where one of the rope crew was taking up some of the slack in her line. The stretcher started to emerge through the window. At last. Maybe she’d get a better look at Marcus out here.

Callum’s shoulders appeared. He was easing the stretcher up gently, guiding it into the arms of his colleagues.

The minibus lurched again. Callum disappeared back down into the depths of the minibus with a thud and a matching expletive. The firefighter next to her struggled to steady the weight in his arms, the stretcher twisting and its edge catching her side-on.

She teetered at the edge of the bus, losing her footing on the slippery side.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. She felt herself fall backwards, her arms reaching out in front of her. The firefighter who’d knocked her with the stretcher had panic written all over his face. There was a fleeting second as he struggled to decide whether to decide to grab her or maintain his hold on the stretcher.

What was it that knocked the air from her lungs? The impact of hitting the water? Or the icy water instantly closing over her head? Her reaction was instantaneous, sucking inwards in panic, instead of holding her breath.

The layers of clothes were weighing her down, as were her shoes. She tried to reach for the surface. The water hadn’t been that deep, had it? She was choking. Trying to suck in air that wasn’t there—only murky water. Then the overwhelming feeling of panic started to take over.




CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_be536042-fef7-5655-b6d0-0bcd5f1db920)


CALLUM HIT THE bottom of the river-filled minibus with a thud, the icy water doing nothing to slow the impact. What little part of him had remained dry was now soaked to the skin.

There was a splash outside, followed by some panicked shouts. Callum was instantly swept with a feeling of dread. The jolt had been a big one. Please, don’t let them have dropped the stretcher.

He was on his feet in seconds, his arms grabbing at the window edge above him and pulling himself up onto the side of the bus.

The stretcher was steady, the child safe and being passed along the line. The crew around him, however, was panicking.

‘Where’s her line? Wasn’t she wearing a line?’

Oh, no. His head flicked from side to side, searching frantically for any sign of Jess. She was the only female river-side. Everyone else was safely ashore. They could only be talking about her.

‘Can you see her? Can anyone see her?’

Callum didn’t hesitate. Not for a second. He saw where the outstretched fingers were pointing and jumped straight into the Clyde.

The water closed around his chest, leaving him up to his neck with barely a toehold on the river’s bed. Even after the water in the minibus, being fully submerged in the fast-flowing Clyde was a shock to the system. Every part of his body seemed to react at once. Everything went on full alert, hairs on end, trying to pull heat back into his centre.

He looked around him, shouting at the guys still on top of the bus. ‘Where? Here?’ He pointed to the riverbank. ‘Tell them to pull in her line!’

The Clyde was murky and grey and several pieces of ice, broken from the river’s edge, floated past.

He swept his arms around under the water. He couldn’t see a thing. Not even a flash of the bright green jumpsuit she’d been wearing. The water wasn’t too deep as he was on tiptoe. But he was a good foot taller than Jess, with a lot more bulk and muscle. Even he could feel the hidden currents pulling at his weight.

Every man working on the minibus had been wearing a line—except him. He took a few seconds to follow the lines from the riverbank to the bus, until he located the one that led directly into the river.

The firefighters on the bank were having the same problem. It took a few moments of frantic scrambling to ascertain which line belonged to Jess. They started to reel it in and Callum waded through the water towards it.

There! A flash of green as she was tugged nearer the surface.

He grabbed, lifting her whole body with one arm, raising her head and chest above the water’s surface.

For the briefest second there was nothing, just the paler-than-pale face.

Then she coughed and spluttered, and was promptly sick into the river. He fastened one arm around her chest, pulling her back towards him, supporting her weight and lifting his other arm to signal to the crew to stop pulling in her line.

‘I’ve got you, Jess. It’s okay.’ He whispered the words calmly in her ear. The cold wasn’t bothering him now. There was no heat coming from her body, but he could feel the rise and fall of her chest under his hands. He could feel her breathe.

Relief. That was the sensation sweeping through him. Pure and utter relief.

He always felt like this after a rescue. It was as if the anxiety and stomach-clenching that had been an essential part of his momentum and drive to keep going just left him all at once. More often than that, after a rescue he would go home and sleep soundly for ten hours, all his energy expended. Building reserves for the next day so he could do it all again.

Even Drew understood. And on those nights his little body would climb into bed next to his father and cuddle in, his little back tucked against Callum’s chest—just the way Jess’s was now.

She coughed and spluttered again. He could hear her teeth chattering. She still hadn’t spoken. Was she in shock?

There would be an investigation later. An investigation into why the paediatric consultant helping them had ended up in the middle of a fast-flowing icy river.

But right now he wanted to make sure Jess was okay. He started wading towards the riverbank, keeping Jess close to his chest. Several of his colleagues waded in towards him, sweeping Jess out of his arms and wrapping them both in blankets.

One of the paramedics started pulling out equipment to check her over. Callum pulled his jacket and shirt over his head. The cold air meant nothing to him right now—he couldn’t be any colder anyway. He gratefully accepted a red fleece thrust at him by one of his colleagues.

He pulled it over his head. There was instant heat as soft fleece came into contact with his icy skin. Bliss.

Two basket stretchers with a firefighter on either side were currently being guided up the steep, treacherous slope. The two kids with hypothermia. He could see the ambulance technicians waiting at the top of the bank, ready to load them into the waiting ambulances.

‘Stop it!’

He turned, just in time to see Jess push herself to her feet and take a few wobbly steps.

‘I’m fine. Now, leave me alone.’ She pulled the blankets closer around her, obviously trying to keep the cold out.

He turned to one of his colleagues. ‘See if someone will volunteer some dry clothing for our lady doc.’

Jess stalked towards him. Her face was still deathly pale, but her involuntary shivering seemed to have stopped. She pointed to the stretchers. ‘I need to get to the kids. I need to get them to hospital.’

Callum shook his head. ‘Jess, you’ve just been submerged in freezing water. You need to get checked over yourself. The kids will go straight to Parkhill. One of your colleagues will be able to take care of them.’

She shook her head fiercely. ‘I will take care of them. I’m the consultant on call. Neither of my junior colleagues has enough experience to deal with this. Two kids with hypothermia? It’s hardly an everyday occurrence. Those kids need me right now.’

One of the firefighters appeared at his side with a T-shirt and another jacket. Callum rolled his eyes. ‘You’ve still got a stubborn streak a mile wide, haven’t you?’

He handed the clothes over to her. ‘Get changed and I’ll get you back topside.’ She shrugged off her jumpsuit, tying the wet top half around her middle, hesitating only for a second before she pulled her thin cotton top off underneath.

In just a few seconds he saw her pale skin and the outline of her small breasts against her damp white bra. It was almost translucent. She pulled the other T-shirt over her head in a flash. But not before he’d managed to note just how thin she was.

Jess had always been slim. But slim with curves. What had happened to her?

She zipped the jacket up to her neck. Meeting his eyes with a steely glare. Daring him to mention the fact she’d just stripped at a riverside, or to mention her obviously underweight figure.

Callum knew better.

He’d learned over the last few years to pick his battles carefully.

Now wasn’t the time.

He signalled and a couple of lines appeared down the side of the steep incline. He leaned over and clipped her harness. Her whole bottom half was still wet—as was his. Spare T-shirts and jackets could be found, but spare shoes and trousers? Not a chance.

‘You do realise we go back up the way we came down?’

She sighed, but he couldn’t help but notice the faint tremble in her hands. An after-effect of the cold water? Or something else?

He stepped behind her and interlocked their harnesses. ‘The quickest way to get you back up is to let me help you.’

He could see her brain searching for a reason to disagree.

‘You want to get back up to those kids?’

She nodded. Whatever her reservations, she’d pushed them aside.

‘Then let me help you. It’s like abseiling in reverse. Lean back against me.’

She was hesitating, still keeping all the weight on her legs, so he pulled her backwards towards him. He felt a little shock to feel her body next to his.

It had felt different in the water, more buoyant, the water between them cushioning the sensation. But now it was just clothes. Wet clothes, which clung to every curve of their bodies.

Her body was tense, stiff, and it took a few seconds for her to relax. He wrapped his arms around her, holding onto the lines in front of them, and gave them a little tug. His lips accidentally brushed against her ear as he spoke to her. ‘We let the lines take our weight. If you just lean back into me, I’ll walk up back up the incline. Just try and keep your legs in pace with mine. It feels a little weird, but it’ll only take a few minutes.’

He let her listen, digest his words. He could feel her breathing sync with his, the rise and fall of their chests becoming simultaneous. She put her hands forward, holding onto the same line as he was, reaching for a little security in the strange situation.

He wrapped his hands around hers. his thick gloves were in place, to take the taut strain of the line.

He felt the tug of the line and started to walk his legs up the slope, taking her weight on his body. He looked skyward. Praying for divine intervention to stop any reactions taking place.

It was the weirdest sensation. The last time their bodies had been locked together she’d been seventeen and he’d been twenty-one. A whole lifetime had passed since then.

A marriage, a divorce, a fierce custody battle—and that was just him. What had happened to her?

His eyes went automatically to her hand. He’d always imagined a girl like Jess would be happily married with a couple of kids by this age. But even through her wet gloves he could see there was no outline of a wedding band. Not even an engagement ring.

Something clenched at him. Was it curiosity? Or was it some strange thrill that Jess might be unattached?

His head was buzzing. He couldn’t even make sense of his thoughts. He hadn’t seen this woman in years. He hadn’t even heard about her in years. He had no idea what life had flung at Jessica Rae. And she had no idea what life had thrown at him.

Drew. The most important person in his world.

A world he kept tightly wrapped and carefully preserved.

Drew’s mother, Kirsten, had left after the divorce and costly custody battle. She was in New York—married to her first love, who she’d claimed she should never have left in the first place, as he was twice the man that Callum was. Callum had been a ‘poor substitute’. Words that still stung to this day.

By that point, Callum couldn’t have cared less about her frequent temper tantrums and outbursts. He had only cared about how they impacted on Drew.

Drew was the best and only good thing to have come out of that marriage.

He didn’t intend to make the same mistake twice.

He’d never introduced any woman to Drew in the three years following his divorce. No matter how many hints they’d dropped.

But his immediate and natural curiosity was taking over. He didn’t have a single bad memory about Jessica Rae. Even their break-up had been civilised.

Seeing her today had been a great shock, but her warm brown eyes and loose curls took him straight back thirteen years and he couldn’t resist the temptation to find out a little more when it was just the two of them. They were around halfway up now. ‘So, how have you been, Jessica? It’s been a long time since we were in a position like this.’

He was only half-joking. Trying to take some of the strain out of her muscles, which had tensed more and more as they’d ascended the slope. Was Jessica scared of heights?

Her voice was quiet—a little thoughtful even. ‘Yes. It has been, hasn’t it?’ She turned her head a little so he could see the side of her face. ‘I’d no idea you were a firefighter. Didn’t you do engineering at uni?’

She’d remembered. Why did that seem important to him?

‘Yes, three years at Aberdeen Uni.’ He gave a fake shudder. ‘These would be normal temperatures for up there.’

‘So, how did you end up being a firefighter?’

Was she just being polite? Or was she genuinely curious? He’d probably never know.

‘There was a fire in the student accommodation where I stayed. We were on the tenth floor.’ He tried to block out the pictures in his mind. ‘It gave me a whole new perspective on the fire service. They needed to call out a specialist team and specialist equipment to reach us.’ He didn’t normally share this information with people. But Jess was different. Jess knew him in ways that most other people didn’t.

‘That must have been scary.’

Not even close. There was so much he was leaving unsaid.

The terrifying prospect of being marooned on a roof with the floors beneath you alight.

The palpable terror of the students around you.

The look on the faces of the fire crew when they realised you were out of reach and they had to stand by and wait, helpless, until other crew and equipment arrived.

‘Callum?’

‘What? Oh, yes, sorry. Let’s just say it made me appreciate the engineering work involved in the fire service’s equipment. I joined when I finished university. It didn’t take me long to find my calling at the rope rescue unit. I still do some other regular firefighting duties, but most of the time I’m with the rescue unit.’ He wanted to change the subject. He didn’t want her to ask any questions about the fire. ‘What about you? Are you married with four kids by now?’

It was meant to be simple. A distraction technique. A simple change of subject, taking the emphasis off him and putting it back on to her.

But as soon as the words left his mouth he knew he’d said the wrong thing. The stiffness and tension in her muscles was automatic.

They were nearing the edge of the incline and he could see movement above them. the flurry of activity as the stretchers were pulled over the edge and the paramedics and technicians started dealing with the children.

‘Things just didn’t work out for me.’

Quiet words, almost whispered.

He was stunned into silence.

There was obviously much more to it than that but now was hardly the time or the place.

And who was he to be asking?

He hadn’t seen Jessica in thirteen years. Was it any of his business what had happened to her?

The radio on his shoulder crackled into life. ‘We’ve got the last two kids. Minor injuries—nothing significant. There’s an ambulance on standby that will take them to be checked over.’

‘Are all the ambulances heading to Parkhill?’ She sounded anxious.

He lifted the radio to his mouth. ‘Wait and I’ll check. Control—are all paediatric patients being taken to Park-hill?’

There was a buzz, some further crackles, then a disjointed voice. ‘Four classified as majors, eight as minors. Two majors and six minors already en route. The adults have gone to Glasgow Cross.’

‘Give me your hand!’ A large arm reached over the edge and grabbed Jessica’s wrist, pulling them topside. Someone unclipped their harnesses and tethers, leaving them free of each other.

‘Doc, you’re requested in one of the ambulances.’

Jess never even turned back, just started running towards the nearest ambulance, where one of the hypothermic kids was being loaded.

Callum watched her immediately fall back into professional mode.

‘Scoop and run,’ she shouted. ‘Get that other ambulance on the move and someone get me a line to Parkhill. I want them to be set up for our arrival.’

Callum looked around him. The major incident report was going to be a nightmare. It would probably take up the next week of his life.

He grabbed hold of the guy next to him. ‘Any other problems?’

The guy shook his head. ‘Just waiting to lock and load the last two kids. The clean-up here will take hours.’

Callum nodded. ‘In that case, I’m going to Parkhill with the ambulances. I want to find out how all these kids do. I’ll be back in a few hours.’

He jumped into the back of one of the other ambulances, where the paramedic and nurse were treating the other hypothermic kid. ‘Can I hitch a ride?’ He glanced at the nurse, who was balanced on one leg. ‘Did you hurt yourself?’

The paramedic nodded.

‘Ride up front with the technician. We’re going to be busy back here.’

The nurse grimaced, looking down at her leg. ‘I’m sure it’s nothing. Let’s just get these kids back to Parkhill.’

Callum jumped back down and closed the doors, sliding into the passenger seat at the front. Within seconds the ambulance had taken off, sirens blaring. Great, the paediatrician had ended up in the Clyde and the nurse had injured her ankle. The major incident report was getting longer by the second.

It wouldn’t take long to get through the city traffic at this time. He pulled his notebook from his top pocket. It was sodden. Useless, soaked when the minibus had tipped and he’d landed in the water.

‘Got anything I can write on?’

The technician nodded, his eyes never leaving the road, and gestured his head towards the glove box, where Callum found a variety of notebooks and pens.

‘Perfect. Thanks.’ He started scribbling furiously. It was essential he put down as much as could for the incident report, before it became muddled in his brain.

The number of staff in attendance. The number of victims. The decision to call out the medical crew. Jessica. The descent down the incline. The temperature and depth of the water. Jessica being called onto the minibus. His first impression of the casualties. The way the casualties had been prioritised. The fact that Jessica had landed in the water.

The feeling in his chest when she’d disappeared under the water.

He laid the notebook and pen down in his lap.

This was no use.

He wasn’t thinking the way he usually did. Calmly. Methodically.

He just couldn’t get her out of his head.

It seemed that after thirteen years of immunity Jessica had reclaimed her place—straight back under his skin.




CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_3def3df6-76db-5a1e-80c3-435dd3174c2d)


THE AMBULANCE DOORS were flung open and Jess heaved a sigh of relief. Her team was ready and waiting.

The A and E department would be swamped. There were twelve kids with a variety of injuries to look after, as well as all the normal walking wounded patients and GP emergency admissions that would have turned up today.

Everyone would be on edge. The place would be going like a fair.

Her team sprang into action immediately as she jumped down from the ambulance.

‘Is the resus room set up for these two kids?’

‘All prepared, Dr Rae. Fluids heating as we speak. Harry Shaw, the anaesthetist, and Blake Connor, the registrar, will help you run these kids simultaneously. You’re drookit, Jess. Wanna get changed?’

A set of scrub trousers were thrust into her hands and she gave a little smile. Her team had thought of everything.

Harry appeared at her side. ‘I take it it was freezing out there?’

‘Baltic.’ The one-word answer told him everything he needed to know.

The second ambulance arrived and both kids were wheeled into the resus room and transferred to the trolleys. Jess ducked behind a curtain and shucked off her soggy jumpsuit, replacing it the with the dry scrub trousers. If only her underwear wasn’t still sodden.

Her team was on autopilot, stripping the freezing-wet clothing from both kids and bundling them up in warming blankets.

She walked out from behind the curtains. Harry Shaw was standing at the head of one of the trolleys, doing his initial assessment. ‘What can you tell me?’

She looked up as Callum appeared at the doorway and handed her a sheet of paper. ‘Thought this might be useful,’ he said as he walked away.

She stared at what he’d scribbled for her. Temperature of the Clyde is currently minus five degrees centigrade. Moving water takes longer to freeze.

It was just what she needed. The temperature to which these kids had been exposed was very important.

She walked over to Harry. ‘This is Marcus, he’s four. He was unconscious at the scene but I can’t find any obvious sign of injury. Showing severe signs of hypothermia. As far as I know, his head was always above the water, but we couldn’t get the tympanic thermometer to register on-site.’

Harry nodded. ‘I need baseline temps on both these kids. Has to be a core temperature, so oesophageal temperatures would be best.’

More paperwork appeared in her hand from the receptionist. ‘Nursery just called with some more details.’

Her eyes scanned the page and she let out a little sigh. ‘This is Lily. She’s four too. She was submerged at the scene—but no one can be sure how long.’

Harry was one of the most experienced paediatric anaesthetists that she knew. He’d already realised that Lily was the priority and left Connor to take over with Marcus. He was already sliding an ET tube into place for Lily. He took a few seconds to check her temperature. Both cardiac monitors were switched on and the team stood silently to watch them flicker to life.

Jessica’s heart thumped in her chest. What happened in the next few minutes would determine whether these kids made it or not.

‘Marcus’s temp is thirty degrees. Moderate hypothermia,’ shouted Connor.

She watched the monitor for a few more seconds. ‘He’s bradycardic but his cardiac rhythm appears stable. Any problems with his breathing?’

Connor shook his head. ‘He’s maintaining his airway. His breathing’s just slowed along with his heart rate.’

Jessica’s brain was racing. She was the paediatric consultant. This was her lead. But Harry was an extremely experienced anaesthetist. She wanted to be sure they were on the same page.

She turned to him. ‘Warmed, humidified oxygen, contact rewarming with a warming unit, rewarmed IV fluids and temperature monitoring. Do you agree?’

He gave her a little smile over the top of his glasses. ‘Sounds like a plan. I’ve paged one of my other anaesthetists to come down.’ The nursing staff started to flurry around them, carrying out the instructions. Jessica felt nervous.

Hypothermia was more common in elderly patients than in children. Every year they had a few cases come through the doors of A and E, but she wasn’t always on duty. And most of those kids were near-drownings—kids who’d been playing on frozen rivers or lakes and had slipped under the water.

Blake Connor, her registrar, looked up from Marcus’s arm. ‘I’ve got the bloods.’ He rattled off a whole host of tests he planned to run. ‘Anything else?’

She shook her head. ‘Right now, we’re working on the assumption that he’s unconscious due to his hypothermia. There’s no sign of any head injury or further trauma. Keep a careful eye on him. I want to know as soon he regains consciousness. He’ll probably be disorientated and confused. Most adults with a temperature at this stage start undressing. We might need to sedate him if he becomes agitated.’ She scribbled in the notes then spoke to the nursing staff.

‘We’re aiming for a temperature gain of around one degree every fifteen minutes. Keep an eye on his blood pressure and watch for any atrial fibrillation. Is that clear?’

The nursing staff nodded and she looked around. ‘Anyone seen Jackie? She was the one who brought Lily in. I need some more information.’

One of the paramedics touched her arm. ‘She fell, coming back up the slope. We think she might have fractured her ankle. Once we’d dropped Lily here my technician took her along to Glasgow Cross.’

Jess felt a twinge of guilt. It was her fault Jackie had been on the scene. She’d wanted the expertise of the experienced nurse at the site. Now, because of her, Jackie was injured. It didn’t seem fair.

‘Lily’s temperature is lower than Marcus’s. It’s twenty-eight degrees.’ Harry had just finished sliding the oesophageal temperature monitor into place. He glanced at the monitor. ‘She’s borderline, Jess. What do you want to do?’

Jess pulled back the warming blankets to get a better look at her small body. Lily was right on the edge, hovering between severe and moderate hypothermia. It was a wonder she hadn’t gone into cardiac arrest.

‘How’s her respiratory effort?’

Harry was sounding her chest. ‘For a child who was submerged I’m not hearing any fluid in her lungs. Just a few crackles. She is breathing, but not enough to keep me happy.’

‘Wait a minute, folks.’ Jess held her hand up as the monitor flickered, going from a stable but slow heart rate to a run of ectopic beats. She shook her head.

Time was of the essence here. She needed to make a decision.

Lily was deathly pale. All her surface blood vessels had contracted as her little body was focusing its resources on keeping her vital organs warm.

Her lips and ears were tinged with blue, showing lack of oxygen perfusing through her body.

Her eyes fell on Lily’s fingers and toes. Their colour was poor.

No. Their colour was worse than poor.

The blueness was worse.

The tinkle of the monitor indicated Lily had gone into cardiac arrest. Jessica leaned across the bed and automatically started cardiac massage with the heel of one hand.

It clarified things and made the decision easier.

‘Harry, we’re not going to wait. Call the team. Let’s get her to Theatre and begin extracorporeal rewarming. Can you phone ahead? Let them know we are resuscitating.’

One of the nurses nodded and picked up the phone in the resus room. ‘Paediatric ECMO in Theatre ASAP. Yes, it’s one of the minibus victims. Four-year-old female, submerged, with a core temperature of twenty-eight degrees. She’s arrested and currently being resuscitated. Dr Shaw has her intubated and they’ll be bringing her along now.’ She replaced the receiver. ‘Theatre one will be waiting for you.’

A wave of relief washed over Jessica. There was no drama. No struggling to find theatre time. It sounded as though the theatre staff was already prepared for the possibility of one of the hypothermic kids needing ECMO.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation worked with cardiopulmonary bypass to take over the function of the heart and provide extracorporeal circulation of the blood where it could be rewarmed and oxygenated. It had only been used in a few cases of hypothermia with cardiac arrest in the last few years, but had had extremely positive results with good outcomes for patients.

Lily was going to be one of those patients.

Jessica was absolutely determined.

Two porters appeared at either side of the trolley, ready for the move.

As they swept down the corridor towards the lifts she caught sight of Callum again, taking notes and talking to one of the nurses. He was still here?

She hadn’t had a chance to think about him. She had been too busy concentrating her energies on keeping this little girl alive. She could feel the cold flesh under her hand as she pumped methodically, trying to push blood around Lily’s body. Trying to get some oxygen circulating to her body and brain.

This was somebody’s child. Somebody’s pride and joy.

Their reason to get up in the morning and their reason to go home at night.

Any minute now some poor, frantic man and woman would turn up in A and E anxious to get news of their daughter.

Praying and pleading to hear the best possible news. Trying not to think about the pictures their brains had been conjuring up ever since they’d heard about the minibus crash. Struggling to remember to breathe as they made the journey to the hospital.

A journey that probably seemed to take twice as long as it normally did.

Their ‘normal’ day had changed beyond all recognition. Had they kissed their daughter goodbye that morning before they’d dropped her at nursery? At the place they’d assumed she would be safe?

Had they spent a few brief seconds taking her in their arms and feeling the warmth and joy of cuddling a child before they’d left her that morning? Or had they given her the briefest kiss on the top of her head because they had been in a rush to get to work? Because they hadn’t realised it could be the last time they kissed their child.

Would they spend the rest of their lives regretting signing a consent form to say their daughter could go on the nursery trip? The one that could have cost her life?

All these thoughts were crowding her brain. Any time she had to resuscitate a child she was invaded with what-ifs?

But the what-ifs were about her own life. She’d spent the last three years thinking about the what-ifs.

What if she’d been driving the car that night?

What if she hadn’t been on call?

What if her husband hadn’t stopped to buy her favourite chocolate on the way home?

The lift doors pinged and they swept the trolley out. She lifted her head. The theatre doors were open and waiting for them.

One of the perfusionists was standing by, already scrubbing at the sinks, preparing to insert the catheter lines that could save Lily’s life.

This was why she did this job.

This was why after a year of darkness she hadn’t walked away. She might not have been able to save her own child but she would do her damnedest to save this one.

Callum stared at his watch. It had been six hours since he’d last seen Jessica sweeping down the corridor, her thin scrub trousers clinging to her wet backside, her hand pumping the little girl’s chest.

He’d felt physically sick at that sight.

Not because he wasn’t used to dealing with casualties. Casualties of all ages and all descriptions were part and parcel of the job.

But seeing the expression on Jessica’s face wasn’t.

Everything about this situation was having the strangest effect on him. The sight of Jessica hadn’t just been unexpected—it had been like a bolt out of the blue.

They’d been childhood sweethearts who’d broken up when life had moved on and they’d never moved in the same circles again. He hadn’t even heard anything about Jessica over the last few years.

Her words on the steep embankment had intrigued him.

Things just didn’t work out for me.

It made his brain buzz. There was a whole world of possibilities in those words. But he didn’t feel as if he could come right out and ask.

Particularly when the sick kids were the priority.

And his lasting memories right now were the way her body had felt next to his. The way they’d seemed to fit together so well again—just like they always had.

It was the first time in a long time that he’d felt a connection to a woman.

The first time in a long time he’d ever wanted to feel a connection to a woman.

Sure, he’d dated on a few rare occasions, but nothing had been serious. He’d never introduced anyone to Drew. It was almost as if he didn’t want to let anyone into that part of his life.

Would he ever feel ready to change that?

The doors opened at the end of the corridor and Jessica walked through. She looked absolutely exhausted. There were black circles under her eyes and her skin was even paler than it had been earlier.

He was on his feet in an instant. ‘Jess? How did it go?’

She reached out to touch his arm, her brown eyes fixed on his. ‘The next few hours will be crucial. We’ve done everything we can. Lily’s temperature is coming up gradually. Now it’s just wait and see. I’ve just spoken to her parents.’ Was that a tear in Jess’s eye?

It was there—written all across her face—how much those words pained her. How much she hated it that things were out of her control. The only thing left to do was wait.

She flicked her head from side to side. ‘I need to get a report on all of the other kids. I need to find out how they are all doing.’

‘No.’ He rested his hand on her shoulder. ‘You need to take a break. Come and sit down. Have a coffee, have something to eat. You must be running on empty, you know that can’t be good for you.’

He could see the struggle in her eyes. ‘I just can’t, Callum. There were twelve kids in that accident. I’m the consultant on call. They’re my responsibility.’

Callum glanced at the notes in his hand. ‘Four have already been discharged. Another four have been admitted to the paediatric unit with mild hypothermia, a head injury, and some bumps and scrapes.’

Her eyes widened. ‘How do you know all that?’

He gave her a little smile. ‘It’s part of the investigation after any major incident for the rope rescue crew. I always need to find out the outcomes for the victims. We need to look over everything that we did to make sure there were no mistakes.’

‘And were there?’

He frowned. ‘Apart from our doctor ending up in the Clyde? And your nurse fracturing her ankle?’

A little smile danced across her weary face. ‘I don’t think you have much control over tides and currents—no matter how much you want to. And Jackie? That’s my responsibility. It was me who asked her to come on the rescue.’

He shook his head. He hadn’t been able to shake the picture from his mind of Jessica falling into the icy river. It had made him feel sick to his stomach and would have to form part of his investigation.

‘It’s my job to make sure everyone is safe at the rescue site. It’s my responsibility, not yours.’

Her shoulders relaxed a little. This was probably the first normal conversation she’d had all day. ‘Do you want to fight me for it?’




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